This amazing house in Nara, Japan has made clever use of an inspiring weaving technique.
The studio behind this design, Tadashi Yoshimura Architects, have made walls throughout this building using a weave technique. The wood is interwound amongst itself to create walls which aren't quite solid, but aren't quite see-through. This technique results in expanded light values throughout the building by not directly blocking off light to many areas. The weave also works as a fun idea for the grandchildren of the people who live here when they visit. The weaves act a climbing frame for them and are strong enough to support them. This is a fun idea for the space, turning something which could have been about pure function into a more entertaining feature. |
The architects have also supplied several orthographic drawings and details or the house and it's construction which are fascinating to examine.
The image below is perhaps the most interesting of the supplied drawings, it shows how the weave is constructed. It is a clever, but yet simple construction which relies of slotting together. It is interesting to see that in actual fact this weave system is an illusion. It is not actually a weave, so much as several smaller components interlocked. This allows for a number of different configurations which can be adapted to vary in size vastly, ranging from small, thin lines, to huge, whole walls.
This house has inspired me to experiment with this technique in my own design and think about this could be implemented. It is actually a very relevant idea to my design concepts and indeed to the personal briefs which I have set myself, for example I wish to block sight into the surrounding houses from the tower but do not wish to create too much of an obtrusive structure for people looking into the park. This idea of weaving walls may very well be the solution to this.
http://www.dezeen.com/2011/06/24/wood-block-house-by-tadashi-yoshimura-architects/